The Crane and The Cherry Blossom
by Luna Covey
Summary: The story of a priestess and a demon lord, whose lives intertwines with the red string of fate; polar opposites yet perfectly compatible as they go through the passage of time finding their piece of heaven.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Inuyasha nor the characters within the series.

* * *

**Prologue: The Crane and The Cherry Blossom **

It's been two hundred and sixty-seven years since he died, and I still remember it like it was yesterday.

It transpired when the last bloom of the cherry blossoms disappeared, the crisp breeze and drought shunning the embrace of the various petals on the flower for the upcoming day. I remember each detail occurring in a precise interval. That morning, I ate breakfast, spent the time fulfilling my obligations until lunch came around.

That day of horror will be forever imprinted in my mind.

It happened during the eventide, when the mingles of colors meddled together exposing total darkness. I could never get that image out of my head, it's impossible to do so. The sheer amount of blood that covered the wooden floors kept my body frozen for the following days. I remember how raw my hands felt after scrubbing the dark stains from the originally light, polished flooring for several days; my eldest son forced my hand to release the cloth, not a single smear appeared on the rag.

I warned him, to be careful of any strange activities, I always do when he patrols the lands' perimeters. But it seemed that the gods had other plans for him, and took him away from me.

When I first saw a glimpse of him, he was magnificent, formidable and pristine, at the time however, he tried to kill me. It wasn't a romantic first encounter, more barbaric and savage than what was expected for a young teenaged girl from the modern era. He haven't given me much thought when he unleashed his poison on me but he renewed his efforts when he saw I survived the attack. Every last reasonable thought that coursed through my mind ended there and I began to verbally insult him from my point.

But underneath all the intimidating show of power and brute strength, laid a physically beautiful being.

It developed into a short crush, a minor attraction towards an adversary at the time, however I kept such thing hidden, even from my closest companion. We encountered him several times throughout our journey, each time left me breathless and blushing when his gaze lingered on my being.

There were many unrests in those times, the constant civil war always nipping at our trail, though it always surprises me how we never encountered a living army or a full-fledged battle commencing. It seemed our dog-eared protector steered us clear from those skirmishes during the hunt. But during those times, we always encountered his brother and his small group, most of the times by accident.

I rubbed my eyes, hoping such action reawakens me to continue my task. With a little fold left before I finished, I couldn't help but remember the significance of this paper origami. It's something to preoccupied myself from the troubling day-October twenty-second-every year. I started the day before in early evening, and continued until the next day at midnight.

A thousand paper cranes.

Hunger usually eludes me during this time since I'm more focused on my task than what my body needs and any reminiscences that lingered on this day are dashed by my activity. Though it was strange how I finished earlier than expected, it didn't stop the depression from seeping in. The phone rang, the trill of the small machine grating on my nerves.

"Hello?" I answered, my impatience not failing to make an appearance.

"Hey mama, are you busy today?" the familiar voice of my youngest and only living son always bought tears to my eyes.

"No, I just finished what I had to do today, why?"

"So you're free, I'm surprised, usually you'll be making your paper cranes 'till late at night." He said, a drop of surprise in his tone.

"Is there something you wanted to tell me Tatsuzo?" I could already tell my son could hear the exasperation in my voice.

"Yeah, do you want to join my family and I to the Jidai Matsuri festival, it's going to start soon, and I'm sure you want to be away from your house today." His voice sounded hopeful, it is hard saying no to him, so I agreed to join them. "Alright, I'll be there in fifteen minutes." After saying goodbye, I hung up.

Sighing, it was difficult talking and spending time with him, it just reminded me of all the failures I garnered throughout the years, the fact only one child out of eight survived always put a damper on my moods everyday. Pictures of my other decreased children are very scarce, but I had a family portrait commissioned before my husband died. I sat in a plush chair, dressed in fine silk and jewelry, my husband standing on the right, my five sons near my left and behind, and my two daughters near their father. At the time I was heavily pregnant with Tatsuzo, there was a certain glow to my being that attracted and fascinated my husband, like I was happiest and luckiest woman in the world.

Right now, said portrait remains in my room, covered in a white silk cover, preserving the painting for a couple more years before it starts deteriorating.

The doorbell rang, interrupting my thoughts, the time flowing by quickly. Putting my jacket over my kimono, I approached the door. Outside stood Tatsuzo, wrapped in a leather jacket. He was the perfect replica of his father, without the beads of concealment. I tell him all the time, even though he never met his father. His two children currently with him, huddled near his form, the day's unexpected chill caressed their cheeks and noses, turning them bright red.

"Hi grandma!" The two yelled, big smiles on their faces while their honey-brown eyes gleamed with happiness.

"Okay mama, ready to go?" Tatsuzo wrapped his arm around my shoulders while herding his two youngest towards the running car. The woman in the car came out, giving up the front seat for me, but I declined and chose to sit with my grandchildren in the back.

Glancing back at the small abode, another day passes along, the fringes of leaves clatter against the small wind chime near the front porch. It was the same like every year, another forgetful yet unforgettable day that merges with the seasons, which encompass an entire year.

With a sigh, I laid back, comfortable against the leather seats, and pondered. How would life be if he was still alive. Troubling thoughts; thoughts he would normally scoffed at and call me foolish.

Sometimes love doesn't conquer everything, no matter how pure, how strong, how genuine a person's love is. Maybe I wasn't meant to love, knowing my history of past relationships. The gods have an agenda, and maybe hopefully, I will be able to reunite with my friend, partner, and soul mate in the afterlife.

It was wishful thinking, it's the reason why I started making paper cranes each year.

Nine hundred and ninety-nine paper cranes I make.

I sometimes wonder why I never make the last crane, but each time I grab the last colorful sheet, I imagine his reaction, his words. A haughty look and sharp chiding for doing something so nonsensical is the typical response I would get from him. He died honorably. To wish him back is disrespect to his being, to his pride, and most importantly, to his memory. He wouldn't want me to continue grieving over him, but he was also a selfish person, so maybe he wouldn't mind so much attention, however, he would have wanted it to be a happy remembrance instead of a melancholic one.

He never liked seeing me downhearted.

It was a quarter till two when we arrived at the shrine, the mass of cars caused several problems due to lack of parking. Finally finding an open slot on the muddy grass, we left the car. There were chatter everywhere, concession stands along the narrow sidewalks, and rolls of yellow tape wrapped around orange cones prevented civilians from crossing the parades' path.

We chose a spot near the bend, Tatsuzo taking out a camera, and soon we heard the sweet playing of flutes, drums and other symphonic instruments down the street, the legion of people marching in accordance to each beat of the drums. Various style of costumes appeared in front of us, resembling the different time periods of ancient Japan.

It was beautiful, simply breathtaking, as I never attended any type of festival in a long time, I was grateful that my son was able to drag me along for this little outing.

A sudden wind appeared, causing us to grip our coats tighter around our body, but something made me open my eyes. Above danced a single flower, a cherry blossom. Its petals full, white around the center before disappearing into the pinks around the tips, it was a rather strange occurrence as the time wasn't right for full blooms and the cherry blossom season ended a couple weeks ago. It twirled around my form before the wind carried it away.

During that second, everything returned to normal, the wind abruptly dying, the group behind us, muttering to themselves about the strange burst of breeze.

But to me, it was message, that he was watching over me, like a guardian angel, awaiting for my presence to accompany him once again on an endless journey.

I smiled.

_Soon, soon I will be with you again, Sesshomaru. _

* * *

**A/N:** This is my new story, just an experimentation and a challenge on how well I can perceive the characters and to do something out of my comfort zone, since I think romance is a sappy genre to write about. Even though the beginning sounds slightly angst (It was saddening to write this, almost busted out in tears) it is almost like visiting the ending before telling the actual beginning of the story in the next chapter. I kept the details vague during this chapter to keep anything from rushing too quick. There will historical content throughout (Since I love history, and find it intriguing when other authors can ingeniously incorporate such elements in their stories) meaning-the chapters will be long as this story will take some time to finish, depending on how often I update. Some chapter titles may sound weird, but they do have symbolic meaning, and in this chapter it's pretty obvious._  
_

There is no update schedule, since most of the time I will be busy with my life or if i have a writer's block, but since this plot is so persistent, I already thought out where this story is going to go. Also I have no beta-reader, so if you see any mistakes, I apologize. I try getting all the spelling, grammatical, and punctuational errors cleared before posting, but even my eyes will miss some mistakes.

Though the prologue is in first-person, the rest of the story will be in third-person, since I find first-person viewpoint to be difficult to write in.

Anyways, read and review, tell me what you think of the story, all opinions are welcomed.


	2. To Begin Once Again

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Inuyasha nor the characters from the series.

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**Chapter 1: To Begin Once Again  
**

"Kagome get up! You are going to be late for school!"

With a noncommittal grunt, she rose from her bed, rubbing her hands against her eyes, while at the same time trying to see the alarm clock, though the neon numbers were blurry at the moment.

After a minute of stretching from her spot and yawning, she read the clock before getting up in a hurry. In the process of rising, the pink comforter wrapped around her waist and legs, and with a startled yelp, she crashed face first on the beige carpet.

A tiny groan emitted from her lips, painfully landing on a heeled shoe she threw on the floor the night before. With a weak tremble of her arms, she got up, rubbing her nose and praying it wouldn't swollen up to a bulbous flaw.

"Shit!" Kagome got up, untangling herself from the covers. She momentarily forgot what happened when she crashed to the floor. Gathering her mandatory uniform from the closet with some undergarments in the bottom drawer of her dresser, she immediately rushed towards the bathroom, passing her aging grandfather with a quick 'good morning'.

_Okay, ten minutes to get ready._ Kagome was panicking, not only will she be late for her first class, it was the only class she looked forward to. A quick soak in the shower, she rapidly dried herself, placed her clothes on, and was in the process of adding some light makeup to her face, when a hard, heavy knock reverberated against the wooden door. A squawk emerged, the mascara smearing her lid and the bristles rubbing against the cornea of her eye. "Ouch damn it! What?" She shouted out, already knowing who knocked on the door.

"Hurry up Kagome, I need to use the bathroom!" Cried her younger brother, his foot kicking the bottom of the door repeatedly.

"What's wrong with the bathroom downstairs?"

"Grandpa cooked up a sewage in there!"

"Well that's not my problem, so if you want to piss on yourself, go ahead, I'm not done using the bathroom." She had to reapply her makeup in the area again, but the persistent banging on the door was unnerving her in so many ways.

Growling to herself, she rushed the process before ripping the door open, the wooden portal smashing against the adjoined wall. Her brother stood there, glaring at her with his brown eyes, trying to intimidate her. Grabbing his head in a headlock, Kagome ruthlessly rubbed her fist against his scalp, relishing his cries of mercy. Letting go and running down the stairs, two steps at a time, she barely missed the grasps of his hands.

"You're so immature, Kagome!" He yelled down, after seeing his older sister stuck out her tongue at him.

Walking into the kitchen, she grabbed the toast from the plate, rubbing strawberry jam around the crunchy surface.

"What was all that noise, Kagome?" Her mother asked, not once looking up from her station as she was busy preparing bento lunches for the inhabitants.

"Nothing, Souta started banging on the door." Her mouth full of toast and orange juice.

"Slow down, you're going to choke if you keep eating like that." Her mother warned, a small concerned look glared at Kagome when she finally heeded her words. "Anyways where's the rush?"

"Mama, I'm going to be late for school."

Peering at the clock near the stove, her mother looked back at her. "But it's only seven-forty-three, don't you start your class at nine?" She tilted her head when she looked back at her daughter, seeing the wheels starting to turn in her head.

_Three…two…one._

"Souta!"

A snicker was heard from upstairs before a slam of a door resonated throughout the house.

Her mother shook her head, amazed how after all these years the same antics between her two children never cease to continue. "Your graduation ceremony is coming up soon, have you bought your dress to wear underneath your gown?"

"No I haven't, and I have a feeling if I bought a dress from the mall, a few other girls will have the same one at the ceremony." Kagome grumbled, placing a few breakfast items on her plate. It was a western-style meal consisting of pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausages.

Her mother gave a nod. "Maybe you could use one of your old dresses."

"Mama, they're old and faded."

"I can do some alterations to the ones that aren't faded, like that white dress you wore last year to your cousin's wedding, I can shorten the hem lines." She suggested, adding the finishing touches on the four bento boxes she made for her family.

"Yeah, that could work," Kagome murmured and paused, a thought passed her mind. "How is grandpa doing, I hope he has been taking his medication." Since Kagome wasn't home most of the time, she been seeing her grandfather less frequently. This morning, her grandfather looked lost, but she was in a rush to get dressed, thinking she was late and not knowing at the time of Souta's prank.

He been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and it's been difficult to come home and watch the elderly man try to do the labor around the house and forget where he's at. It was dishearteningly to witness.

"It's been difficult, I fear the medication isn't working. He's increasingly getting worse each day." Her mother's eyes were downcast with distress. "The other day when you were at school, he forgot how to eat, he just sat there looking at his meal."

"Don't worry mama, this is just a slight obstacle, grandpa is a strong man, he will get through with this." Kagome got up and hugged her mother, the older woman trying so hard not to cry. "When will that nurse arrive?"

Patting her eyes dry with the napkin handed to her by her daughter, before she answered. "She should be here at ten. Now go ahead and finish your breakfast, you have a busy day today." With that said, Kagome watched her mother started deep-cleaning the kitchen, knowing it was her way of coping with her melancholic emotions.

* * *

The twitters of birds and the sound of a busy street greeted her when she finally left the house.

Her watch beeped, signaling eight-thirty has just begun.

She tried cheering her mother up after consuming her breakfast, but she kept telling her that she was fine, and she has a busy day of cleaning the shrine.

Soon, she'll inherit the shrine from her grandfather, unless he already has a caretaker lined up to help around the grounds until he officially steps down. But that won't be for some time, her grandfather is stubborn as a mule when it comes to the shrine.

With a tired sigh, Kagome walked down the wide steps of the family shrine, and merged with the sidewalk before heading towards the bus station. It was a couple minutes walk from the shrine but usually her friends would be here to greet her.

Not seeing any signs of them, she shrugged her shoulders, and soon after, she stepped on the bus, showing a pass instead of paying like the other passengers.

The scenery passed by quickly, losing herself in a trance.

It's been four years since she returned from the warring era, wanting to complete her education in par with her mother's wishes. It was difficult to say goodbye once again to her friends across the well, but what purpose did she have there now. Sango and Miroku got married and had three kids, and probably had more during the time she was gone.

Inuyasha proposed to her, a part of her wanted to say yes but a larger part told her to wait. She loved him dearly but after everything that happened in the past years, relationship-wise, it was better to take things slow and steady.

However, the outcome wasn't what she expected.

A few days after she gave him her answer, he disappeared, and since then haven't seen him, not even on the day she made the decision to return home to finish her modern duties. It saddened her greatly, but what can she possibly do about it. She wasn't ready, she wasn't ready for the long commitment she always talked about when she was a young adolescent girl.

She matured, becoming a strong independent woman who has no intention of settling as a housewife her entire life. Thinking about such a boring life-style caused her brow to twitch in annoyance, she was used to the high-paced adventure, the thrill of a wild chase. To give up on that is very difficult, even now in the modern era, she enrolled in various outdoor extracurricular activities that challenges her.

Her other modern friends all went to different universities, they were formally best friends but even distance can cause some raptures in their relationship. Kagome missed them, but then again what can she do, she tried emailing them but even she was busy most of the time, between school, shrine responsibilities, and her activities.

But the most blessed thing occurred, Hojo finally released his _obsession_ of her. Well, obsession was a pretty strong word to describe his affections towards her, but it was bordering on crazy herbalist go-to guy with all the medical remedies he would procure from his mother's garden during the time of her _sicknesses_.

The bus stopped once again, with an announcement of entering a neighborhood, her stopping point. Getting up from her seat, she departed from the bus, walking down the long strip towards the other bus station that led her the entire way to the campus. She was very fortunate to be accepted in this university, she studied vigorously for the entrance examinations, and when she got her results back, her family been very proud of her.

"Kagome! Kagome!" A jovial voice screeched. Turning around, she noticed her friend Megumi running towards her, one arm waving while the other clutched a pink shoulder bag.

A couple seconds later, the young woman was besides her, panting for air.

"Why were you running?" Kagome asked, noticing the disheveled appearance of her closest friend.

"I wanted to catch up to you, ya know." She replied, catching her breath. "And we have another bus ride to catch before reaching school, did you get the notes from yesterday, I had an urgent appointment." The duo shuffled near the bus station near the bend of the street, large groups of other young women chattered to their friends, spreading gossips and rumors about some girl, or talking about boys.

The Ochanomizu University technically was her second choice, mostly because of the fact it was an all women school, but their social sciences program attracted her to it.

The bus finally arriving after several minutes of waiting, the due shuffled on the bus, scanning the area for two empty seats. Sitting down, Kagome passed several sheets of paper filled with information, all handwritten during yesterday lecture.

"Damn this is a lot of notes, Kimura-sensei really went in." Exclaimed Megumi, frantically writing down the notes in her notebook.

"Yeah, this is our last year, we have two more weeks before we graduate, Kimura-sensei is making sure we passed her class, you know how she is."

"I will not tolerate delinquents in my class nor failures, if you do not wish to pass, I suggest you switch classes now and fail that class instead." Kagome giggled, the impersonation of the elderly woman from her friend was terrible, especially when she tried the nasal whistle. "Man, I don't know how she does it." She shook her head, collecting her materials.

Soon the bus stopped near the school, the minutes passing by quickly, a large amount of girls got off at this stop, all going to the same university.

The two friends lugged towards the double door entry, greeting other girls along the way.

* * *

There was a calling a couple weeks later, it woke Kagome up from her slumber.

The clock blared two-twenty-five am.

Glancing at it, she wondered what woke her up. A light shined through the window, bypassing the lace, white curtains. She gazed out, noticing the well shrine was glowing with a blue aura.

_That never happened before._ Kagome thought to herself, a bit apprehensive of the possible outcomes that can occur if she were to investigate the glowing structure.

Grabbing the cotton robe on her computer chair near the desk, she crept downstairs, wincing lightly when the floorboard creaked underneath her weight.

Inwardly grumbling, she wondered why she came up with this foolish idea to go outside, especially when there was a strange shadow over passing the shrine, before materializing into an obscure object near the well house. Knowing how people are in this time period, she wouldn't be surprised it was a criminal or something, or a burglar, and here she was, dressed in her nightclothes about to peek out into the seemingly, empty courtyard.

The alarm beeped just when she opened the door, she hoped it didn't wake her mother up, but she is a light sleeper, she probably groggy at the moment from the strange noises around the house.

It was disturbingly dark, only the dim lights from the street helped it from being completely overshadowed by the tall trees of the shrine.

Kagome gave a quick peek around the corner, noticing nothing out of the ordinary. With a inhalation of breath, she approached the well house, still glowing with the unusual gleam of blue. The shadowy figure she saw moments ago disappeared, there was no aura or presence that distinguished it from the surrounding area.

Shrugging her shoulders, she cautiously reached her hand out towards the wooden door of the small complex, blue tendrils slowly starts reaching out for her, caressing her dainty hands in a familiar manner. Finding this strange and not sensing any impending danger, she pushed the door open, entering the wide archway and walked down the steps.

She stopped at the well, watching as many more wispy tendrils leave the confinements of the lids through the tiny cracks of the ancient wood. There was a seal on it, however, her grandfather placed it on there to ward off evil or something similar. It was a dead seal and wouldn't have worked unless she placed her powers into the slip of paper.

_Is something wrong with the Feudal Era?_ Kagome mused, her hands brushing against the rough texture of the wood. There wasn't a calling before, not once happening during the journey for the jewel. _Maybe I should open it._

With a harsh tug at the rope above, the wooden panels opened and cracked against the outer rim of the well.

A giant burst of tendrils flowed through, encompassing the entire area in a thick embrace. The long, strings of blue wrapped around her tightly, cutting off her oxygen before it started dragging her through the portal, she barely had time to screech out in fright before everything returned to normal with a sudden snap of the well's lids.

* * *

How long she been in this vortex, flowing and drowning in this sea of blue.

She should have known something of this sort was going to happen sooner or later, but she hoped that everything was over with. What else can the gods possibly have in store for her, she accomplished her task of destroying the evil that plague the land for almost a year. The jewel remained safe with her, on the other side of the well.

She floated endlessly in this dimension, her hair flowing with the circular motions of the current. It was taking an awful long time to arrive the Feudal Era, usually it will be a couple seconds before the appearance of stone and vine leaves greeted her sight.

Reaching out at the swirls, she sensed the magic was more aggressive, more potent than before. Too many strange occurrences are happening, she couldn't comprehend what is going on, too many questions but no answers.

Finally, after what is deemed as eternity in her mind, the swirl stopped, the blue fading to the black of night. Posing her legs to cushion the fall, Kagome gave a sigh of relief, though vertigo had a vengeance on her senses. Grasping blindingly around, she couldn't feel the vines that usually lingered on the stone walls.

Cursing to herself, she prepared the long and dangerous haul up towards the lip of the well.

A couple minutes and several slips later, she finally made it through the top. She was covered in grim and whatnot, and it felt like she was running a marathon. _I need to do some upper body strengthening exercises, that was ridiculous._

Pausing, she noticed there are several changes since her last visit. There were houses, not the normal wooden huts from a couple years ago, but slightly more modern looking homes with a long structures interconnecting with other buildings like a maze of sorts; the architect of the walls were white with black paneling at the bottom.

She noticed the once dirt ground was covered with gray stones and blocks. Finding everything happening to fast, she hurried towards the main village, walking down the path workers made to the center of activities. Around her, white walls with pagoda roofing led the path downwards and circumscribed the large area; some trees were knocked down for the construction of the walls.

She reached the Goshinboku, and felt a relief to know the tree remained unharmed, there were blessing sutras wrapped around the trunk of the tree. Several feet behind the large tree stood a medium-sized torii gate with sacred shimenawa hanging from the wooden beams. She realized she was on a shrine, a predecessor of her family shrine from the modern era, and noticing that the presumed houses from before were actually the shrine's buildings.

Continuing on her way, she came across a vast difference from four years ago. The village of Edo has grown significantly, what used to be small wooden houses are replaced with interconnecting buildings and second-story homes. Under the moonlight, the black shingles of the roof tops shined, and the large maze of the village astonished her.

Now she's wondering where Kaede's home was located, and by the size of the town, it will take forever to find the elderly woman.

"Who goes there?" a gruff voice came from behind her, startling her into a quick jump.

Turning around, it was a guard; a guard in samurai armor.

For a second she lost her voice, suddenly frighten with what this man is capable of doing.

"Woman, speak before I bring you to my Lord."

"I'm looking for Kaede." She murmured out, watching the piercing look of the older, bald man glance at her form with disgust, before tilting his head towards back to the shrine. The man led her back up towards the small shrine, and during that while, he kept looking back, making sure she haven't wandered off.

Kagome silently huffed, irritated by the man's constant speculations. Looking down, she could already tell why. The cotton robe she wore was dirty and riddled with the clay near the bottom of the well. There was also tears among the edges, and her legs were showing.

No wonder that samurai kept looking at her.

"Takahiro, who is that woman accompanying you?" Came a smooth baritone voice of another man. In the torchlight he looked fairly young, the fact his head wasn't shaved in the middle brought a gentle look upon him.

"Some woman I had the unfortunate luck of finding, she had this suspicious air to her, she has yet to say her name." Was the brusque response. "She seeks the presence of the head priestess Kaede."

"Kagome, Higurashi Kagome." She quickly replied, many people in this era didn't have surnames, she thought if she mention hers, it would give her some leeway in the future of things.

"Higurashi…" The younger male said slowly, a hand cupping his chin. "I have not had the convenience of knowing any clan by that name, she could be that of royalty."

"That is highly doubtful, Bakusui, would you think someone of high stature would wander at night, clothed in what she has on?"

"Probably a merchant's daughter."

"I do not care about who she is, I rather have this woman off my hands and continue my task of patrolling the town." The longer she continued hearing the conversation between the two samurai the more the feeling of irritation started embracing her mind.

With that said, the two samurai parted, going separate ways. Reaching the front doors of the shrine main building, he rapped against the wooden door, and waited.

Soon, inside the dark building, a single light approached. A woman answered, bowing to the samurai in respect.

"Samurai-san, what service can I do for ye?"

"This woman seeks Kaede-san." Having done his temporary duty, he left, living the two women at the doorstep.

"What is your purpose with Kaede-san?" Kagome inwardly grumbled to herself, why is everybody so rude?

"I wish to seek an audience with Kaede."

"Ye are fortunate she has arouse from her slumber, I will take ye to her." The woman turned, the candle in her hand, illuminating the way.

Around her, the inside décor was simplicity in its plainness, not a single piece of furniture was seen in any of the open rooms, with the exception of the main meeting room, where a large, low table sat with red cushions on all sides.

Inside sat the elderly woman from her adventures. Kagome couldn't help the squeal from emitting through her lips, the woman besides her giving her a startled look after bowing.

"Kagome, it has been a while, has it not?" The grandmotherly tone that soothe her worries and sorrows years ago, impacted a small sense of complacency.

"Kaede, so much has been going on, tell me everything." Kagome sat near the elderly woman, grasping her hand, seeking reassurance.

"It is a long story, I'm afraid, numerous things has transpired since your absence, some good, others unfortunately not."

Kagome had a feeling she rather not hear the story, but curiosity had a way of snagging her in.

* * *

**A/N:** Read and review, tell me what you think of the story, all opinions are welcomed.


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